MX23RW : Monday, November 25 01:59:45| >> :120:7143:7143:

Martin O'Neill: 'Harry Kane considered playing for Republic of Ireland'

Martin O'Neill reveals that a representative for Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane once approached him expressing the striker's interest to play for the Republic of Ireland.

Martin O'Neill has revealed that a representative for Harry Kane once approached him expressing the striker's interest to play for the Republic of Ireland.

The Ireland manager had admitted last summer that he was chasing up a lead with the Tottenham Hotspur frontman and, despite being offered encouragement by Kane's camp, the player, whose father was born in Galway, insisted in August that he wanted to break into the senior England squad.

Kane is expected to be involved in Roy Hodgson's squad for the matches against Lithuania and Italy later this month after enjoying a breakthrough season, and O'Neill admits that the chase to make him an Ireland player is now over.

When asked if the story was true, O'Neill told the Daily Mail: "Yeah, yeah, it is. I was talking to somebody about this last night and we were just saying that Harry himself always wanted to play for England. Really, it was as simple as that.

"The order of events – though I don't think it's really important anymore – is that initially the agent got in touch and said that he would have a keen interest, and we wanted to go and chase it up.

"But then I noticed in the newspaper where he said he wanted to play for England. And that has remained the same. Someone was even speaking to him recently and that was exactly the same conversation. Fine, if that's the case."

Kane has scored 26 goals in 41 appearances for Spurs this season.

ID:210881: cacheID:210881:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2614:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Manager Stuart Pearce of England during UEFA European U21 Championships on June 11, 2013
Read Next:
Pearce: 'Kane should play for U21s'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!